Dynamic spectrum refarming with multiple carriers

Abstract

The present invention relates to dynamic spectrum refarming with multiple carriers. At a first communication system of a first radio access technology, a request is received in a first signaling message from a second communication system of a second radio access technology, the request including information on availability of spectrum blocks shared between the first and second communication systems. The availability of the spectrum blocks may have been determined based on a load of the second communication system. The first communication system performs carrier aggregation mechanisms based on the information with respect to the spectrum blocks, and may transmit a response to the request in a second signaling message to the second communication system, the response including an acknowledgment of an activation/deactivation of at least one additional carrier and/or a corresponding carrier aggregation.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus of a first communication system of a first radio access technology to: 
 receive a request in a first signaling message from a second communication system of a second radio access technology, the request including information on availability of at least one spectrum block shared between the first and second communication systems, and 
 perform at least one of activating and deactivating at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block using carrier aggregation mechanisms based on the information with respect to the at least one spectrum block. 
 
     
     
       2. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
 in case the information indicates availability of the at least one spectrum block, activate at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block and aggregate the at least one additional carrier using the carrier aggregation mechanisms, and 
 in case the information indicates unavailability of the at least one spectrum block, deactivate at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block and deactivate the corresponding carrier aggregation using the carrier aggregation mechanisms. 
 
     
     
       3. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to:
 for activating and aggregating the at least one additional carrier, deactivate a carrier of a particular bandwidth and reactivate the carrier with a larger bandwidth corresponding to the at least one spectrum block, and 
 for deactivating the at least one additional carrier, deactivate a carrier of a particular bandwidth and reactivate the carrier with a smaller bandwidth corresponding to the at least one spectrum block. 
 
     
     
       4. The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to transmit a response to the request in a second signaling message to the second communication system, the response including an acknowledgment of an activation or deactivation of the at least one additional carrier and the corresponding carrier aggregation. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus of  claim 4 , wherein the first signaling message is a virtual inter-system handover request message and the second signaling message is a virtual inter-system hand-over response message. 
     
     
       6. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to receive the request from a network node of the second communication system, and the apparatus comprises the network node. 
     
     
       7. The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the request further includes interference information on a level of inter-system interference between the first and second communication systems, at least on carriers shared between the first and second communication systems, and the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to control the inter-system interference based on the interference information. 
     
     
       8. The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to at least one of:
 allow carrier aggregation only for user equipment of the first communication system that have signal quality that is high enough to cope with the inter-system interference, and 
 adjust signal quality estimates of the first communication system based on the level of inter-system interference. 
 
     
     
       9. The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein for deactivating the at least one additional carrier and the corresponding carrier aggregation the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to decide per sector on a unique primary carrier per user equipment, and perform an intra-cell handover of each of user equipment connected to a primary carrier different from the unique primary carrier to the unique primary carrier. 
     
     
       10. The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: decide the unique primary carrier based on neighbor cell interference estimated from at least one of measurement reports of the user equipment and based on signaling from the second communication system on activities of carriers of the second communication system. 
     
     
       11. An apparatus comprising:
 at least one processor; and 
 at least one memory including computer program code, where the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause 
 the apparatus of a second communication system of a second radio access technology to: 
 monitor its load, 
 determine an availability of at least one spectrum block shared between the second communication system and a first communication system of a first radio access technology based on the load, and 
 send a request in a first signaling message to the first communication system which is capable of performing at least one of activating and deactivating of at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block using carrier aggregation mechanisms, the request including information on the availability of the at least one spectrum block. 
 
     
     
       12. The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to calculate a level of inter-system interference between the first and second communication systems, at least on carriers shared between the first and second communication systems, and include interference information on the inter-system interference into the request. 
     
     
       13. The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the is at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to signal activities of carriers of the second communication system to the first communication system. 
     
     
       14. The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to receive a response to the request in a second signaling message from the first communication system, the response including an acknowledgment of an activation or deactivation of at least one additional carrier and a corresponding carrier aggregation. 
     
     
       15. The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one memory including the computer program code is configured with the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to limit a transmit power of the second communication system on at least one carrier shared between the first and second communication systems. 
     
     
       16. A method comprising:
 receiving, at a first communication system of a first radio access technology, a request in a first signaling message from a second communication system of a second radio access technology, the request including information on availability of at least one spectrum block shared between the first and second communication systems; and 
 performing at least one of activating and deactivating at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block using carrier aggregation mechanisms based on the information with respect to the at least one spectrum block. 
 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , comprising:
 in case the information indicates availability of the at least one spectrum block, activating at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block and aggregating the at least one additional carrier using the carrier aggregation mechanisms; and 
 in case the information indicates unavailability of the at least one spectrum block, deactivating at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block and deactivating the corresponding carrier aggregation using the carrier aggregation mechanisms. 
 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 17 , comprising:
 for activating and aggregating the at least one additional carrier, deactivating a carrier of a particular band-width and reactivating the carrier with a larger bandwidth corresponding to the at least one spectrum block; and 
 for deactivating the at least one additional carrier and the corresponding carrier aggregation, deactivating a carrier of a particular bandwidth and reactivating the carrier with a smaller bandwidth corresponding to the at least one spectrum block. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 17 , comprising:
 transmitting a response to the request in a second signaling message to the second communication system, the response including an acknowledgment of an activation or deactivation of the at least one additional carrier and the corresponding carrier aggregation. 
 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein the first signaling message is a virtual inter-system handover request message and the second signaling message is a virtual inter-system handover response message. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the request further includes interference information on a level of inter-system interference between the first and second communication systems, at least on carriers shared between the first and second communication systems, and the method comprises:
 controlling the inter-system interference based on the interference information. 
 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 21 , comprising at least one of:
 allowing carrier aggregation only for user equipment of the first communication system that have signal quality that is high enough to cope with the inter-system interference, and 
 adjusting signal quality estimates of the first communication system based on the level of inter-system interference. 
 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 16 , comprising:
 for deactivating the at least one additional carrier and the corresponding carrier aggregation, deciding per sector on a unique primary carrier per user equipment, and performing an intra-cell handover of each of user equipment connected to a primary carrier different from the unique primary carrier to the unique primary carrier. 
 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , comprising:
 deciding the unique primary carrier based on neighbor cell interference estimated from at least one of measurement reports of the user equipment and based on signaling from the second communication system on activities of carriers of the second communication system. 
 
     
     
       25. A method comprising:
 monitoring a load of a second communication system of a second radio access technology; 
 determining an availability of at least one spectrum block shared between the second communication system and a first communication system of a first radio access technology based on the load; and 
 sending a request in a first signaling message to the first communication system which is capable of performing at least one of activating and deactivating of at least one additional carrier corresponding to the at least one spectrum block using carrier aggregation mechanisms, the request including information on the availability of the at least one spectrum block. 
 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 25 , comprising:
 calculating a level of inter-system interference between the first and second communication systems, at least on carriers shared between the first and second communication systems, and including interference information on the inter-system interference into the request. 
 
     
     
       27. The method of  claim 25 , comprising:
 signaling activities of carriers of the second communication system to the first communication system. 
 
     
     
       28. The method of  claim 25 , comprising:
 receiving a response to the request in a second signaling message from the first communication system, the response including an acknowledgment of an activation/deactivation of at least one additional carrier and a corresponding carrier aggregation. 
 
     
     
       29. The method of  claim 25 , comprising: limiting a transmit power of the second communication system on at least one carrier shared between the first and second communication systems. 
     
     
       30. A computer program product including a program for a processing device, comprising software code portions executed by a processor for performing the method of  claim 16  when the program is run on the processing device. 
     
     
       31. The computer program product according to  claim 30 , wherein the computer program product comprises a non-transitory computer-readable medium on which the software code portions are stored. 
     
     
       32. The computer program product according to  claim 30 , wherein the program is directly loadable into an internal memory of the processing device.